Review of Grave Encounters (2011) by Guillermo B — 10 Jul 2015

Summary: In spite of being a very flawed film, Grave Encounters deserves some credit for its terrific scares and claustrophobic setting. 80/100 [B+].

For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that's supposedly haunted - and it might prove to be all too true. Grave Encounters is written and directed by The Vicious Brothers. I have to admit that in spite of its flaws, it is one of my favorite found-footage films of all time, it has a very scary atmosphere and unforgettable scares. Grave Encounters is an audience pleaser. It is that kind of horror film that you re-watch every Halloween with some friends and snacks. It is suspenseful, memorable and bloody; I love it. It's an amazing ride, and of course a guilty pleasure. Moving on, the film starts slow and introduces us to its characters, also there were some silly and bad-acted moments in the first act.

The main character, "Lance Preston" performed by Sean Rogerson was quite objective, you don't hate him, but you don't like him either. The rest of the characters were somewhat likable, except for the black guy called "T.C. Gibson", performed by Merwin Mondesir. His character was annoying and cliche, but the script helped him a lot, and you can empathize with him sometimes. The only female in the film "Sasha" performed by Ashleigh Gryzko, was quite believable, her acting was realistic and effective. The acting in this movie was generally good. After the introduction of the characters, the crew locks themselves inside of the abandoned mental hospital and the fun begins... for us. It is bloody, twisted and messed up. It is a pleasant found-footage film. The excitement that produced in me was just incredible.

The Vicious Brothers direct with precision, and they build a consistent atmosphere throughout the film. I loved the skepticism of the characters during the first half of the film. The first creepy scenes were effective, for example: wheelchairs and creaky doors moving by themselves. All of these scares were cliche, but Grave Encounters is still effectively creepy because it has the right amount of suspense in its scares, it has a great build-up suspense. I also want to add that its found-footage execution makes sense, and the footage looked very realistic at times. Moving on, the second half of the film is a huge disaster (in a good way), it has lots of effective jump-scares and bloody violence. The payoff was astonishing, it delivered so many good scares. This movie boasts one of the most eerie settings I've ever seen in a found-footage film.

This second half was constant, it was a huge climax that never stops. The sound effects were awesome, but I have to admit that the special effects were a little bit crappy because of the budget. The CGI was awful. However, it doesn't matter because the film keeps the intensity all the time, scare after scare. The whole asylum is a scary maze. Some of the characters were annoying, but the whole situation was understandable. If I were in that situation, I would be as angry as them. As I said in the summary, this movie deserves some credit for its strengths. It has flaws, such as: lots of non-scary ghosts with big mouths, annoying characters, a few bad performances, dumb actions by the characters, and average special effects. But who cares? It's still creepy as hell. [B+].